In March Circle Housing and Kier both agreed to end the contract to deliver responsive repairs and maintenance in the housing association’s central region after performance issues.

This contract was one of two secured by Kier in 2013 in what what billed as one of the biggest five-year deals in the sector worth £200m.

Wates Living Space will be delivering emergency repairs and void refurbishment to 15,000 homes for Circle 33, in addition to 3,000 homes for Mercian. Delivery teams will be co-located with the client in local offices.

Wates has already begun responding to emergency and out of hours work for residents and is mobilising to deliver all services by the end of May.

Circle Housing’s CEO, Mark Rogers, said: “Today’s announcement marks an important step in our improvement plan to deliver a repairs service that our customers deserve.

“We’re pleased that Wates shares our social purpose and commitment to customer service and look forward to working in partnership with them.”

David Morgan, Regional Managing Director for Wates Living Space South Maintenance, said: “Wates Living Space is extremely proud of its place as one of the UK’s leading affordable housing contractors and our appointment to deliver this vital responsive repairs service is testament to our expertise as a quality maintenance provider.

“The needs of tenants are at the heart of what we do and our team is dedicated to ensuring that these are met in an efficient manner, with the utmost professionalism. Wates Living Space has a strong presence across the West Midlands and London and we look forward to growing this further by taking forward this important work on behalf of Circle Housing.”